


Telling Lies & Half-Truths

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, F/M, Older Characters, bc Remus is alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 02:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14864954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: They faced each other a while ago...now Lily Luna knows she must tell her family about Remus.





	Telling Lies & Half-Truths

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy! *Note: Sequel to "[Oopsies Are Cute](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14864699)," though you don't have to read that first.

At twenty-four-years-old, Lily Luna Potter would gladly have remained in Romania with her Uncle Charlie and dragons. _Anything_ but this little family homecoming would've been better. Lily. Hated. Christmas.

Okay, so it wasn't _actually_ Christmas, but it _was_ the holiday break, and—while Charlie had insisted he couldn't leave Eastern Europe—Charlie had sent Lily to be home with her immediate family. "It's nice to see family" or "Christmas is the time to be with loved ones" or "When I was your age, I could barely escape this job to see _my_ immediate family"—one of the three or something similar was what Charlie had reprimanded her with, only to receive an eye roll from her. Ignoring it, Charlie had sent her on her way, and now Lily stood on the stoop of her family home, wishing she could do anything but knock and enter.

As fate would have it, she needn't even have to knock, as Ginny opened the door and drew her baby daughter into a tight hug. "Oh, Lily! It's always so good to get you away from work. Come in, come in!"

Lily forced a smile as her mother led her into the living room where her father and brothers were watching a footy match. "Nice to see nothing's changed," she remarked.

" _Agh_!" James groaned as Al and Harry laughed. " _Damn_ it, I had a couple of Galleons on that bet!"

"Pay up," Al prompted his older sibling.

"Al…," Harry chided. He got up from the couch when he saw his daughter. "Lily! About time you came home! You're so dark."

Lily caught her reflection in the nearby mirror and realized that, at least compared to her father and Al, she _was_ somewhat tan. Ginny had been like that, too, back when she'd played Quidditch. James worked inside Ollivander's store, so he relished the sun at the end of a long day and therefore looked similar to Lily. Offhandedly, the Potter girl wondered if she'd get any darker if she worked in Romania for the rest of her life.

"Really, Harry? She's home and _that's_ the first thing out of your mouth," Ginny stated with a roll of her eyes. The kids all laughed. Lily was right. Nothing really had changed.

"You said you were going to stay a couple of days this time," Ginny reminded her. "I've got your room made up, and Calytrix will get Al's room. The boys will share James'."

Lily's eyes widened as she looked at Al. "You brought your girlfriend home for the holiday? Nice," she added with a smirk.

Al blushed, which only made his green eyes stand out more. "I don't want to hear it from the likes of you, Miss 'Oh, I don't need a boyfriend right now.'"

"More like 'Miss Can't-get-a-boyfriend-right-now,'" James amended with a teasing wink.

Lily groaned. "Y'know, these days it's not uncommon for a woman my age to have a romance late in life. We tend to put our futures first."

Harry's smile faded a bit, and he narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute… Lils, you didn't dispute what they said."

She blinked. "Uh, sorry?"

Her father crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised one dark eyebrow. "Lily, is there something you've been keeping from us?"

Screw Aunt Hermione—Lily's _dad_ was easily the keenest person around. She didn't let her expression falter as she answered, "I wasn't _agreeing_ with what Al and James said, either." She met his eyes head on and hoped she looked as though she were capable of standing her own against him. After all, she was both her father's _and_ her mother's daughter, right?

Harry absentmindedly stroked his chin with his thumb. "…no, you didn't," he finally acquiesced. He sighed and motioned her over as James got out the cards for a round of Exploding Snap. "But a dad can worry, can't he?"

Lily smiled and kissed his cheek. "There's never anything to worry about with me, Dad."

"Shyeah, didn't you used to say that with each detention you got back at school?" James quipped.

* * *

Exploding Snap always had the tendency to put them all at ease, and it became a fun, heated battle when Calytrix Zabini—Al's longtime girlfriend—made an appearance and the game turned to witches versus wizards. Calytrix was especially good at the game, and the witches managed to pull one over the wizards…until Harry won the last round.

"You two are utterly useless at this!" Lily laughed at her brothers when midday had given way to evening and they finally stopped.

"Oh, yeah?" Al retorted, an envious glint in his eye. "Then you should play against _me_ in Wizard's Chess."

She shut up. No one was thick enough to take him up on that offer. Al had played against both Harry and Uncle Ron, and he could _win_ against both of them. Al might've been crap at Quidditch and Exploding Snap, but no one could turn their nose up at his chess skills. Instead, Lily looked to Calytrix for help.

"Hey, Al, why don't we see if your mum needs help with the biscuits?" the dark-skinned witch suggested. She got up and extended a hand to him, half dragging him from the room. She nodded to Lily when they disappeared into the kitchen.

"Already it smells good," Harry said, though Ginny had only been mixing up batter and finding ingredients. The aromas _had_ been wafting out of the kitchen, though.

"I'm hungry and tired," Lily said, sandwiching herself between her dad's and James' shoulders. She hugged James' arm to her and leaned her head on Harry's shoulder; a pleasant sigh escaped her lips. "I think…Uncle Charlie was right about coming home. I didn't even realize how much I needed this."

"I felt the same way when I left Diagon Alley last week," James said, leaning his head on her shoulder. "Home, as they say, is where the heart is."

Harry smiled. "You two… It's nice to know your mum and I instilled family values in you kids." He kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Even _I_ admit it's nice to be home and not out running around with the other Aurors."

"I bet Mum's happy you're not doing that right now, too," James said, his voice muffled by Lily's hair. "Same with you and your bloody dragons, Lils. What, are you looking for a prince to slay one for you? Or are you going to be your own prince?"

Lily pursed her lips, thinking. As the youngest in her family, they'd all tried to treat her as some kind of princess, but Lily thought of herself more as a knight or the like. It was an interesting topic for James to bring up, and it certainly got her thinking.

"Well, forget that for now," Harry said. He shifted and got up. "It's gotten late. We'll all really catch up tomorrow. And share gifts."

"Gifts?" she echoed as James helped her up. "But Christmas already happened."

Harry smiled. "You really didn't think your mum and I would celebrate without you kids home?" He chuckled and hugged her. "I'm turning in early. Tell your mother to save me some biscuits for tomorrow."

"Only if James and I don't eat them first," Lily called after her father as he went upstairs. She looked at James, who grinned wickedly at her. "What?"

"You didn't answer the prince comment either," he poked.

She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow as she headed to the kitchen. "Oh, I didn't? _So_ sorry, James. Mum? Are those chocolate chip-pumpkin I smell…?"

* * *

A stomach full of biscuits and one refreshing shower later, Lily Luna was tucked into her old bed, piled on with layer upon layer of soft and plush blankets. Yes, she was twenty-four, but it didn't mean that she didn't like acting like a little girl every now and then.

However, after a good night's rest, Lily understood she probably couldn't play the little girl card forever with her parents. She had no doubts that her brothers had raised her parents' suspicions. And, if not Ginny's, then most certainly Harry's. Lily would bet her wand that, before she returned to Romania, Harry would ask her again about her love life, and she knew she would not be leaving the house without giving her answer.

As pleasant as her second day with the family went, on the third day of her stay Lily felt her gut twisting. It wasn't that she was _ashamed_ of her love… It was that she knew she'd have a hard time explaining it to her family. No one, not even her friends, knew whom she loved. She'd been with him barely a year, but it was bound to cause controversy…

On the fourth day, her anxiety hit its peak when she got up first. The others were still asleep—or so she thought—when she quietly padded into the kitchen and got some milk to go with her breakfast of biscuits. As she bit into her second one, a voice sounded behind her:

"So…who is it?"

Lily frowned, knowing she wouldn't have jumped at his voice. She'd been _expecting_ her dad to be the second person up in an effort to pry the answer from her before it became too much with everyone in the room at once. She finished her sweet treat and turned to him, leaning back on the counter with her hands at her side, gripping the edge. "You asked."

Harry nodded, though the corners of his mouth drooped slightly. "Well…I've faced Death Eaters and Voldemort. It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Remus Lupin."

Harry blinked, slowly at first and then several times in rapid succession. "…sorry?"

"Remus Lupin," she repeated with a sigh as she bit into another biscuit.

" _What_?" he hissed as quietly as he could without waking the others.

"Remus Lupin, for Merlin's sake. You're not deaf, Dad."

Harry's face faltered and the color drained from his skin. "I-I-I-I-I—"

"Yes?"

He stopped, collected himself, and said what Lily had figured would be the first thing out of his mouth: "He's too old."

She rolled her eyes. Remus had told her the same thing in the beginning, too. "He _looks_ a little younger than even you, Dad. He draws on the wolf's strength."

"How he _looks_ doesn't count," Harry said slowly and evenly in an attempt to contain his anger. "Do you even _know_ when he was born? I do!"

"I do, too, so let's talk about it," Lily said, putting her half-eaten biscuit back on the counter and clasping her hands on her thighs. "He was born in 1960. I was born in 2007." She met his fiery gaze. "Borrowing ones and dropping down… That's forty-seven years."

Lily didn't know if she'd ever seen her father so green. "My _Godric_ , Lily, he… He has a son _older_ than you, for heaven's sake!"

"Funny. He said that, too." She gathered her hair over her left shoulder and began to plait it to keep her hands busy.

"You must be joking."

"Why would I jest about something so serious?" She frowned out of exasperation.

"Because it—it's _wrong_!" Harry quietly yelled.

"You know, Dumbledore might have loved someone else, but McGonagall always carried a torch for him, and that age gap is even larger," Lily pointed out. She stood up straight and stopped playing with her hair.

"But that was _Minerva_ , and she's not my daughter!" Harry retorted. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, the whites of his knuckles showing.

"You can't lock me up forever, treating me as your baby girl, Dad."

"That isn't the point, Lily!" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "My god… … _Remus_?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, Remmy."

Harry looked at her again. "How serious is this? How long? Please tell me this is unrequited—"

" _DAD_!" Lily stared at him, offended. "You'd _like_ my love to stay one-sided? That's horrible! Regardless of who the bloke is, you should be happy for me, to _some_ degree!"

"Lily Luna Potter," he said slowly, emphasizing her full name, "we could laugh and go along with your whimsies when you were younger and liked _Malfoy_ , but Remus is a separate category from Scorpius. At least Scorpius is near your age!"

"Can you _not_ force _Rose's_ boyfriend on me, thanks?" Lily huffed and dumped the rest of her glass of milk into the sink, her own brow knitting together in anger. "You don't get to sit around and plan my life for me, you know."

Harry was quiet for so long that Lily was scared to look at him. When she timidly did, she saw him frowning at her, a hurt look on his face. "Lily…"

"Dad, I'm sorry. I was—that was word vomit, I swear." She closed her eyes, took a few breaths, and then looked at him again. "It's just… _No_ , you can't plan my life for me."

He was quiet a moment longer before a cracked chuckle escaped him. "Yeah, I know… You don't honestly think your mother or I would've let you play with dragons for your career, do you?"

Lily smiled, but her relief was short lived when the frown returned to his face.

"But this doesn't mean I— _we_ can accept what path you've chosen." He paused, a wait that felt like eternity to his daughter. "How long?"

"Just under a year," she blurted, wondering where this was leading.

Harry stared at the floor tiles. "…how serious?"

She bit her lip. "Want details?"

He closed his eyes and grabbed the kitchen table to steady himself. "Dear Merlin… I don't think I want to know what you mean by that."

"We've barely snogged, Dad. He's… He's more worried and disturbed than you, I think."

"How serious?" he repeated.

"For me…I'd say true love," she replied, bashfully turning her head so she could stare out the window. "For him…maybe not true love, but it's love, all right."

"Lily, please hear me out—nothing good can come of this."

"Other than two people in love being happy?"

"Lily, he's—"

"I know how old he is. I also want to ask you something: What's time in the face of magic, hmm?" She stared at him, knowing he saw wisdom in her eyes and wondering when his baby daughter had grown up so fast. "Tell me. What's time in the face of magic?"

Harry grimaced, knowing he wouldn't want her to continue. "Lily, I'm allowed to be concerned for you. He…"

"A decade's like a year to witches and wizards, Dad. If we take care of ourselves, we can live to the ripe old age of a couple of centuries. Hell, Nicolas Flamel and his wife enjoyed _their_ centuries to the fullest."

"You don't have the Elixir of Life, Lils," Harry remarked, his voice cracking.

She sighed, tired already of an argument she'd had in her mind since she'd confessed her feelings to the werewolf. "No, but I've—Remus and I have something better." She smiled at her father, her eyes a little watery. "We've got love, Dad. Doesn't that count for something?"

Harry crossed the room and looked her up and down before drawing her tightly into his arms. "Lily," he breathed against her hair. "Oh, Lily…"

She tucked her head into his neck and tried to stop herself from crying. It was hard because she'd never seen or heard her dad cry before. But the warm wetness on her scalp told her she'd done that to him. "I'm not sorry, Dad," she mumbled into his neck. "I'm…I'm happy."

* * *

Lily did not stay for the rest of her allotted vacation time. Instead, Harry had told her he still couldn't wrap his head around the idea of one of his older friends with his daughter— _"You and Remus… It's just… You don't go in the same sentence,"_ he'd said—and the house had become awkward afterwards.

She told Ginny and was met with a similar reaction from her mother. Thankfully, Harry had said he would inform Al and James. Lily knew that, after stunning her parents, she couldn't have done the same to her brothers in the same stay.

"I'm going back to Romania early," she told her parents two nights before her last day with them.

"No, you're not. If you're my daughter, you're going to visit Remus first," Ginny said with a small smile. While she had not cozied up to the idea of Remus with Lily, she had at least found it in her heart to appreciate that her daughter had _truly_ fallen in love.

Al and James had been stubborn and refused to see her off. Apparently, they had been much angrier and vocal about that anger when Harry had told them.

Lily waved her parents goodbye and started out of the yard when Calytrix called her back. She ran to catch the youngest Potter.

"Hey… Lily…," she panted, her black hair half hiding her caramel skin. She looked up at her and gave her a thumb's up. "Don't tell Al I said it, but good luck!"

Lily beamed at her, happy to have an ally. "Thanks, Cal." She mounted her broom then, thinking two things:

1—Remus probably needed a surprise visit from her as much as she needed a visit with him,

and

2—Calytrix would make a great Potter someday

**Author's Note:**

> :] Yes, I intended to write little familial approval—at least for now—from the others towards Remlilu. Funny how much trouble Remus caused without even being there! XD But I love him…and so does Lilu! :3 And, for anyone still squirmy over the age difference, I have but one remark: "What's time in the face of magic?" Last notes: Calytrix Zabini is an OC of mine, being Blaise and Pansy's daughter. And cookies to you if you can recognize where else I've written James as Ollivander's apprentice! ;D Other Remlilus: "Heart of the Wolf" (the 1st one!), "we dance without a care in the world," "Angels for Now," and (the one before this one) "Oopsies Are Cute." Coming up: "Sips of c_h_a_m_p_a_i_n" (coupled with "Angels for Now"), "stargazer," and "Missing Piece," amongst others. Hope you're enjoying all the Remlilu love! :}
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki ;3
> 
> 2017 note: This old piece is still nice, though I confess I like some of my other Remlilus better. I've written Potter–Weasley acceptance (and denial) of certain relationships a lot before and since this fic, though deffo my fav would be "Heroic Tendencies" (although "[Things That Tie Us Close](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14804249)" has some really great scenes, too). Also, a Lily who works with Charlie in Romania just makes so much sense to me, that it became a part of my overall headcanon. XD


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